Glasgow Caledonian University to open New York base

15 November 2012

GCU to launch in New York

Glasgow Caledonian University is to set up a base in New York to deliver executive training and short courses and to further our research collaborations with Universities in New York and examine the potential for delivering masters courses building on the successful model of its London campus. The University Court has approved the development in the US, as part of the University’s broader internationalisation strategy.

The plans for GCU New York follows the launch of GCU London in 2010 and, like London, the New York post-graduate campus will be funded entirely through surplus revenues generated by the University and will not involve direct public funding. The University will adopt a phased approach to the New York project as it seeks to develop opportunities in areas such as teaching, research, knowledge transfer and consultancy.

When fully operational, it is planned GCU New York will offer a range of niche Master’s degree programmes in which the University already has an international reputation, together with Business Academy and Executive Education courses. The centre will also provide opportunities for GCU staff and students from Glasgow and London to work and study in the US and for American students to study in the UK.

“GCU is making excellent progress as a globally-networked University, but the development of GCU New York provides a unique opportunity in a key international market where we are currently under-represented,” said Professor Pamela Gillies, Principal and Vice-Chancellor.

The UK has doubled the number of centres and campuses its universities maintain across the world since 2009, an area currently dominated by the University of Nottingham, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, Middlesex University and Cranfield University.

“If Glasgow Caledonian University is to progress positively in such a highly competitive environment, raising our international standing further is essential,” added Professor Gillies. “To achieve this, a deeper and broader international profile is required.”

GCU New York will allow the University to build on established relationships and further develop joint programmes, for example, through its new research and teaching partnership with Stony Brook University in New York. The centre will also be well-placed to act as a hub for recruitment from South America where GCU recently entered into a collaborative partnership with the Federal University of Rio De Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil.

New York is one of the world’s leading financial and fashion centres and a GCU campus would open up opportunities to recruit US postgraduate students to the University’s successful internationally-focused niche programmes such as International Fashion Marketing and related studies, Risk Management, and TV Fiction Writing.

Professor Karen Stanton, the University’s Vice-Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor for International and External Relations, said that GCU staff and trade unions were being fully briefed about the New York project which, she said, would support the implementation of five of the seven key objectives outlined in the University’s Internationalisation Strategy for 2012-15. These include: further developing student mobility and exchange, facilitating the delivery of programmes overseas, and creating opportunities to strengthen teaching, research and knowledge transfer.

GCU New York will follow the post-graduate model of GCU London which opened in the vibrant Spitalfields district in 2010. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, adding new courses and expanding to accommodate new conference and meeting facilities at its base in Fashion Street. GCU London enjoys the endorsement of some of the biggest names in fashion, including AllSaints and Marks & Spencer, for its courses in international fashion marketing. Its business courses have also attracted industry-leading accre